Friday, December 28, 2012

Word of the Year Report

Okay, okay, so it's "Word of the Year" (WOTY) time again. I have participated in this annual event (with varying degrees of success) for a couple of years now. For 2012, my WOTY was "Stewardship". I picked it because I wanted to take better care of what I've already been blessed with.

It was a really stupid word choice for me. I've been pretty lousy at it in all honesty. In fact, I think in most areas where this word applies to my life I am actually in WORSE shape than when I chose this clearly unmotivating word! The only place I remotely achieved this goal was in establishing a savings account and direct depositing money to it every pay period. Money which I just completely spent on Christmas (though in fairness that was the major reason for the account) so, as of this writing, I'm starting over there too. Sigh. I supposed I'm not the best steward out there of my own resources.

I'm not going to beat myself up over it but rather look at WHY it didn't work for me. In 2010 I selected "DARE!!!" (with the 3 exclamation points after it to denote the famed 'Triple Dog Dare') for my WOTY and I seriously kicked butt that year. I pushed myself in ways I didn't know I could and accomplished some long-desired goals that were important to me. I ended that year proud and happy!

"DARE!!!" is motivating, edgy and just a bit scary- like a leather-clad biker chick on a Harley. Oh- and don't Google "leather-clad biker chick" thinking you'll find a usable creative commons photo to make this post less boring. You won't find any boring or G-rated photos with those search terms!

"Stewardship" is like being scolded by your Granny driving an AMC Matador (possibly the ugliest car ever designed). You can google the Matador all you like- you'll not find any scantily-clad chicks posing on one anywhere on the internet!

I think I failed at my "Word of the Year" goal because, seriously, who wants to be an AMC Matador?

If you're only going to pick ONE word to live by for the entire year, it should probably be something that you WANT to do but need extra motivation (DARE!!!) rather than what you think you SHOULD be doing (Stewardship) then selecting a word that you hope will motivate you TO do it. Make sense? In 2011, I chose "Cultivate" and had mixed success. It was more motivating than "Stewardship" but was more of a baby-steps kind of progress.

"Dream no small dreams for they have not power to move the hearts of men"- Johann Wolfgang Con Goethe

I firmly believe the above quote. I've seen it in action and I've seen how *I* am motivated by the big, crazy dreams rather than simple, attainable goals. So, in that vein, I think the 2013 Word of the Year will be:

"Aspire"

Not as bold as DARE!!! (because one can only handle just so much of that without driving everyone crazy) but not as OLD as Stewardship either! There are many things I ASPIRE to do to better- things I want to learn, places I want to push myself, opportunities I want to CREATE (it's much easier to create opportunities than it is to find them). Hopefully I won't totally FAIL at it. I have a few ideas in the works already for this year which will hopefully help me grow and challenge myself. We'll see how it goes!

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About Me

I'm a pretty average woman- wife, mom, sister, daughter, housemaid, taxi driver, party planner, gardener, advocate, insomniac, designer, employee and teacher.
I'm WAS stay-at-home Mom who WAS rarely at home. Now I am also a part time employee and loving it! I also volunteer for all kinds of stuff that others are too smart to get caught up in! No, actually I like doing the 'non-conventional' Mom activities. It gives me something to think about while doing the mundane stuff- like housework!